In oil production, a pumping unit or pump jack is an above ground drive unit for a subterranean reciprocating piston pump. The pumping unit connects to the subterranean pump via a string of sucker rods that extend from the pumping unit and into a well bore. Most commonly, the top most rod of the sucker rod string is referred to as a polished rod. In use, a walking beam of the pumping unit teeters (i.e., pivots up and down) to reciprocate the attached polished rod, which operates the pump to mechanically lift fluids out of the well. Typically, the polished rod connects to a rounded head (e.g., horse head) attached to the end of the walking beam to translate the pivotal movement of the walking beam into a near linear up and down motion. The polished rod connects to the horse head via a cable attachment or bridle, which supports a carrier bar. To connect the polished rod to the pumping unit, the polished rod passes through an aperture in the carrier bar while the pumping unit is stationary at or near the bottom of its downward stroke. At this time, a polished rod clamp is affixed to the polished rod. The polished rod clamp prevents the polished rod from passing back through the carrier bar, when operation of the pump jack is resumed. Accordingly, the sucker rod string is reciprocated with the pumping unit after such connection.
During well production, it is sometimes necessary to adjust the connection between the pumping unit and the polished rod to correctly align the stroke of the subterranean pump. For instance, it is sometimes necessary to adjust or space the polished rod such that the pump does not ‘bottom out’ on the downward stroke of the pumping unit. The current methodology in the petro-chemical field of artificial lift for such spacing a sucker rod pump utilizes a device called a “toadstool” or “suitcase”. Typically, this device is used in tandem with a temporary polished rod clamp, which is affixed to the polished rod between the wellhead and the carrier bar. Once the clamp is affixed to the polished rod and the suitcase is positioned, the pumping unit is moved downward to lower the rod string. When the temporary clamp contacts the suitcase, the suitcase supports the rod string and continued downward movement of the pumping unit creates a spacing between the carrier bar and the polished rod clamp. At this time, the position of the polished rod clamp may be adjusted and/or a spacer may be inserted between the polished rod clamp and the carrier bar. In either case, the process requires that an operator use a ladder or elevating device to access the carrier bar and polished rod and often requires that the pumping unit be started and stopped multiple times.